[Perisher]

Hi there everyone,

I'm new to the forums, and also completely new to building desktop systems! I've decided it's about time to build myself a new gaming rig, and have put some quality time into researching possible builds. As of right now I have three builds that I'm considering (pending on other peoples comments/nVidia GPU release), but I'm more than willing to listen to what you guys have to say. Just before I get into it, let me stress that this is basically a PURE GAMING RIG. I don't want to edit media, and I most likely will never do anything that requires multiple cores.

These are the three builds I have so far:

Build 1 (Intel)
CPU - Core i7 860
MOBO - Gigabyte P55-UD5
RAM - G.Skill DDR3 2X2GB RAM (1333MHz)
VIDEO - Radeon 5870
POWER - SeaSonic M12 700W
OPTICAL - LG 20x DVR/RW Black SATA
STORAGE - Samsung 1TB HDD
CASE - Thermaltake Element G

Build 2 (AMD - DDR3)
CPU - AMD Phenom II X4 965 (Black Edition)
MOBO - Gigabyte GA-MA790FXT-UD5P AM3
RAM - G.Skill DDR3 2X2GB RAM (1333MHz)
VIDEO - Radeon 5870
POWER - SeaSonic M12 700W
OPTICAL - LG 20x DVR/RW Black SATA
STORAGE - Samsung 1TB HDD
CASE - Thermaltake Element G

Build 3 (AMD - DDR2)
CPU - AMD Phenom II X4 965 (Black Edition)
MOBO - Gigabyte GA-MA790GP-UD4H AM2+
RAM - OCZ DDR2 2X2GB RAM (1066mhZ)
VIDEO - Radeon 5870
POWER - SeaSonic M12 700W
OPTICAL - LG 20x DVR/RW Black SAT
STORAGE - Samsung 1TB HDD
CASE - Thermaltake Element G

So there they are in all their glory. Critique away!

I will let you know however that I have already purchased both the case and PSU (the ones from the builds above). I was really unsure as to how much power I actually needed to supply, so I just went for 700W. Is there a detrimental effect from having too much power? I hope not. I'm really not too sure as to what processor I should go for because I've heard that while AMD is usually the best to go with for gaming, the new Intel chips are super powerful. Another point I'd like to raise is also whether or not I should go with a DDR3 system for AMD, or DDR2...

Thanks in advance for your help

[jgv115]

Don't go DDR2 go DDR3. Don't go 965 go 955. Go for TX750 Corsair. Have you thought about the Caviar black or SSD?

That is all.

[J-O_S-H]

Hello... and welcome to the forums.

I'm guessing by the components in some of the build options that you are not heavily restricted by price.

Build 1 (Intel)
CPU - Core i7 860
MOBO - Gigabyte P55-UD5
RAM - G.Skill DDR3 2X2GB RAM (1333MHz)
VIDEO - Radeon 5870
POWER - SeaSonic M12 700W
OPTICAL - LG 20x DVR/RW Black SATA
STORAGE - Samsung 1TB HDD
CASE - Thermaltake Element G

First off the powersupply that you have already bought is fine... Seasonic is a good well-know, reputable brand in the PSU market. as for 700w it is true that could have got away with less but having too much power is no problem as your system will only take what it needs. It also means that you could add more components in the future and still be OK.

Cases are more of the users choice than being good or bad... thats the case you liked and so you bought it... end of story.

After reading up on a few tests etc the i7 860 is a very good choice for gaming beating the i7 920 in a almost every aspect (920 better for video editing etc).

The motherboard you have chosen is good but I would reccommend the ASUS Maximus III Formula... its a gaming motherboard that has very good performance and is great for overclocking. On newegg it costs $40 more than the gigabyte.

The 5870 is an awsome card... since its a single GPU card it will run some games even better than a GTX295.

Ram is fine but I would probaly get 1600MHz... there is some red G.SKILL ripjaws that match the maximus III perfectly.

You 1TB drives is also not an issue... but as the person above stated caviar black's are very good... if you did want some extra gaming performance you could get a WD Velociraptor or SSD for loading games... but of course that comes at a price... which isnt cheap.

I'm no expert but I hope this Helps.

Intel i7 + P55 FTW

AMD for Budget!

[Perisher]

Originally Posted by J-O_S-H

Hello... and welcome to the forums.

I'm guessing by the components in some of the build options that you are not heavily restricted by price.



First off the powersupply that you have already bought is fine... Seasonic is a good well-know, reputable brand in the PSU market. as for 700w it is true that could have got away with less but having too much power is no problem as your system will only take what it needs. It also means that you could add more components in the future and still be OK.

Cases are more of the users choice than being good or bad... thats the case you liked and so you bought it... end of story.

After reading up on a few tests etc the i7 860 is a very good choice for gaming beating the i7 920 in a almost every aspect (920 better for video editing etc).

The motherboard you have chosen is good but I would reccommend the ASUS Maximus III Formula... its a gaming motherboard that has very good performance and is great for overclocking. On newegg it costs $40 more than the gigabyte.

The 5870 is an awsome card... since its a single GPU card it will run some games even better than a GTX295.

Ram is fine but I would probaly get 1600MHz... there is some red G.SKILL ripjaws that match the maximus III perfectly.

You 1TB drives is also not an issue... but as the person above stated caviar black's are very good... if you did want some extra gaming performance you could get a WD Velociraptor or SSD for loading games... but of course that comes at a price... which isnt cheap.

I'm no expert but I hope this Helps.

Intel i7 + P55 FTW

AMD for Budget!

Thanks

Whilst money isn't *too* much of a restriction, I don't exactly have thousands to blow. I've recently heard that the i5 750 is just as good as the i7 860, but for a fraction of the price, is that right?

I will definitely look into that mobo + RAM combo, thanks for the suggestion! I'm also considering CFing twin 295GTX...do you think that would be a better choice than a single GPU? I'm definitely considering CFing the 5870 down the track once they get a bit cheaper...so that's another option too. I realise that if I do CF, I will be better off going with a 9 series i7 and an X58 mobo...

Thanks for your help.

Originally Posted by jgv115

Don't go DDR2 go DDR3. Don't go 965 go 955. Go for TX750 Corsair. Have you thought about the Caviar black or SSD?

That is all.

Why the 955? While your suggestions are valued, I need evidence to back it up. Can it be pushed just as hard for a fraction of the price? I have already bought the PSU, so that's no longer a worry. What exactly does the Caviar Black have over other HDD's? I'm really not too concerned about data transfer speeds - unless that bottlenecks performance? I've heard SSD's are pretty ****house in terms of life span...is this true? What sort of bonuses do they bring anyway? Sorry about the lack of knowledge!

[J-O_S-H]

Whilst money isn't *too* much of a restriction, I don't exactly have thousands to blow. I've recently heard that the i5 750 is just as good as the i7 860, but for a fraction of the price, is that right?

The i5 750 is also a very good CPU... It has i7 performance minus a few bwlls and whistles.

The main difference between the i5 750 and i7 860 are that the 860 has a higher base clock (if you overclock makes no difference since both will overclock to 4GHz) and also has Hyper threading which means it can run two virtual processes from one physical core... this is not really needed either but can be useful in video editing etc... but since you want to just game it's not important.

I would say if you are going to overclock a lot get the i5 750 and save some money... if not get the i7 860 because its 2.8GHZ (i5 is 2.66GHz)

But everyone has different opinions about the matter... its YOUR choice.

I will definitely look into that mobo + RAM combo, thanks for the suggestion! I'm also considering CFing twin 295GTX...do you think that would be a better choice than a single GPU? I'm definitely considering CFing the 5870 down the track once they get a bit cheaper...so that's another option too. I realise that if I do CF, I will be better off going with a 9 series i7 and an X58 mobo...

If you use 2 x GTX295's it will be SLI not Xfire... it is true that X58 is a bettewr platform for multi-GPU setups beacause it can run all cards at 16x... and of course you'd need an i7 9xx... about Xfiring 2 x 5870 it is cheaper than 2 x GTX295 and better in games that dont support multi-GPU.

There is however a board called EVGA FTW 200 which is P55 and allows multi x16 cards because it has an additional nvidia x200 chip on it... unsure of the price.

What size screen will you be playing on (resolution)?

Also... where are you from... prices vary depending on where you are.

[Perisher]

Originally Posted by J-O_S-H

The i5 750 is also a very good CPU... It has i7 performance minus a few bwlls and whistles.

The main difference between the i5 750 and i7 860 are that the 860 has a higher base clock (if you overclock makes no difference since both will overclock to 4GHz) and also has Hyper threading which means it can run two virtual processes from one physical core... this is not really needed either but can be useful in video editing etc... but since you want to just game it's not important.

I would say if you are going to overclock a lot get the i5 750 and save some money... if not get the i7 860 because its 2.8GHZ (i5 is 2.66GHz)

But everyone has different opinions about the matter... its YOUR choice.



If you use 2 x GTX295's it will be SLI not Xfire... it is true that X58 is a bettewr platform for multi-GPU setups beacause it can run all cards at 16x... and of course you'd need an i7 9xx... about Xfiring 2 x 5870 it is cheaper than 2 x GTX295 and better in games that dont support multi-GPU.

There is however a board called EVGA FTW 200 which is P55 and allows multi x16 cards because it has an additional nvidia x200 chip on it... unsure of the price.

What size screen will you be playing on (resolution)?

Also... where are you from... prices vary depending on where you are.

I'm definitely OCing, so if I do go down that road, the i5 750 is looking a lot tastier now. Thanks for that insight

So the 5870 looks like a solid choice for now, and down the track - awesome. The more I read, the more I'm leaning towards an i7 920 combined with an X58 so I can CF my future GPU configuration...

I will be playing on a 24" 1920x1080 screen, so I'd like to max the capabilities of that. I'm from Brisbane in Australia, and I use a supplier database to pick up cheap gear, so prices aren't too much of an uncertainty for me.

[J-O_S-H]

OK... so you're leaning towards i7 + X58...

In that case i would reccomment the i7 920 + Gigbayte UD5

It will run XFire as well as SLI with the latest BIOS update... it is also a very good asthetic choice and easily overclocks the 920 to 4GHz.

You will also need a triple channel memory kit... I would reccommend a 1600 MHz kit (3x2gb)

... and with 2 x HD 5870 you will be laughing at that resolution... rip through all the games.

[Perisher]

Originally Posted by J-O_S-H

OK... so you're leaning towards i7 + X58...

In that case i would reccomment the i7 920 + Gigbayte UD5

It will run XFire as well as SLI with the latest BIOS update... it is also a very good asthetic choice and easily overclocks the 920 to 4GHz.

You will also need a triple channel memory kit... I would reccommend a 1600 MHz kit (3x2gb)

... and with 2 x HD 5870 you will be laughing at that resolution... rip through all the games.

As of right now...yes. I don't want to get to midway next year and wish I had bought an X58 mobo with an i7 920 chip to begin with because I want to CF the 5870's.

So running 6GB of RAM...that results in a 64-bit OS doesn't it? I've heard bad, baaad things about that

Fingers crossed for a massive price plummet for the 5870's when the new nVidia cards come out!

[J-O_S-H]

So running 6GB of RAM...that results in a 64-bit OS doesn't it? I've heard bad, baaad things about that

I have a 64bit OS and it works perfectly... there are a few compatibility issues with some programs but if you get windows 7 with XP virtuals os then you should have no issues...

you would need 64bit with p55 as well though

32 bit supports less than 4gb

4gb/6gb ram + 2 x 1gb GPU = 6/8gb = 64 bit OS needed!

[Perisher]

Originally Posted by J-O_S-H

I have a 64bit OS and it works perfectly... there are a few compatibility issues with some programs but if you get windows 7 with XP virtuals os then you should have no issues...

you would need 64bit with p55 as well though

32 bit supports less than 4gb

4gb/6gb ram + 2 x 1gb GPU = 6/8gb = 64 bit OS needed!

...that explains why my current build is only using 3GB of 4GB of the RAM I installed, damn haha.

Well thank you very much for your help so far, you've been great

[jamesman32]

+1 for the recommendations above. You won't be disappointing in the 5870. Hell, it's the only card I would recommend buying one of right now, and getting a second later. Usually, I would tell a person to just buy the most powerful card they can afford, but the 5870 is the most powerful single GPU card on the market, and it is Dx11. Cant go wrong with buying 1. Adding a second later is a pretty good idea as well, but just remember that CrossFire doesn't always play nice with some games. I had a CF 4890 setup a few months ago, and it would cause horrible FPS in some older games. A single 5870 has remedied that though, and I'm sure that once 5870 driver support gets a bit better in the coming months, there wont be many CF issues.

[updawg]

64-Bit XP was terrible at the time with no driver support and compatibility issues. However, with Vista/Windows 7 64 bit it is a no brainer to adopt an os that will accept more than 3gb of ram. The hardware and software support is their and I have yet to have a compatibility issue. Good luck with whatever system you end up building!

[jgv115]

All this powerful component talk and no SSD?
You need one in there or it will feel slow.

I'm no SSD expert so I can't recommend one but I can recommend 1 SSD + 1 other hard drive for your data. A lot of people go for the Caviar Blacks because they are basically the fastest 7200pm for a good price. Depending on how much data you have you should get the 500,640GB or 1TB versions.